Had my new AI for about 3 weeks now and this is my first trip out in the briny. I launched from the beach in front of my house during some perfect south westerly conditions (offshore, so calm surf). I took the tramps off for this first effort to allow easy access on & off in waves when launching and beaching.

I think I'll be OK with the tramps on in the surf. I reckon if I unclip the seat on one side (the closer bit has conveniently dropped off somewhere) prior to beaching I can swivel around over the back of the tramp fairly easily to do a graceful exit. On this occasion I got off between Akas in the waves and learnt all about not doing that again. Of course I immediately went into recovery mode and looked around frantically to see if anybody was watching.

NOHUHU, I discussed this very subject with my daughters the other day. After they spent a good 10 minutes laughing at me, they did suggest I get a nic change. I suggested AI Guy and they spent another 10 minutes laughing.......hey, it was a spur of the moment decision.

Anyhoo.....how do you change it or am I stuck with the worst nic ever ?

Nothing scientific. It can get pretty warm here over summer, so I didn't want black for that reason and the grey tramps just matches the red colour schemes in my opinion.

It's just a bit different to the average.

I've also found the lighter background of the tramps highlights any stuff that might be lying around on the tramp waiting to be used. It also lightens up the whole boat as the grey is 'light grey'.

Plus, it matches my own wings.

Makes sense to me. I hadn't heard of many people who went with the grey colour. I thought the grey complimented the sails nicely, but the black complimented the boat (with all of the black bars, bungees, and drive pieces etc.) I went with black for much the same reason that you went with grey, most of our water is cold, and I'll be sailing well into the cooler months, so I figured the black couldn't hurt to help warm things up.

The camera is a little Sony Cybershot DSC-TX5. Pretty sure it's the same model that Whosyerbob uses for his vids. A great little happy snapper and waterproof to 10'. It can be a slippery little sucker because it is just a palm sized 'Happy Snapper', so I'd recommend using it with a 'floating strap' in case it goes for a swim. When I'm not using it I just toss it in the side pocket of the kayak.

The 'mount' is either my left hand or my right hand.

Editing software is just the stock standard iMovie on Mac which is pretty nifty (for a gumby like me)

The still pictures I used were just photos I'd taken of the beach on a typical S/E day probably mid winter.

The video was shot in August when we get stiff Westerlies (blowing off shore). They always flatten the surf (to an extent) or at least bring it down to a manageable size which is pretty small.

There is a topic on launching in surf somewhere and in moderate surf I find sailing with someone (on the tramps) is better than solo. That person (my daughter) steadies the boat from swinging around as I get powered up via the drive and then leaps on to the tramp and when coming in I judge the sets and come in on the back of the last wave of the set and let it go and then pedal like a man possessed and she bails out before the first wave of the next set gets us and again she keeps the boat straight. By this stage she's in about 3' of water and the danger of the break is behind us.